Category Archives: Ending 24-hour workdays

US Government: Stop the Genocidal War against the Palestinians, and Stop Abusing Women of Color Internally by Abolishing the 24-hour Workday

The US government supports the Israeli government in continuing to harm the Palestinian people, which has aroused worldwide indignation and sympathy for the Palestinian people.

In order to obtain maximum oil benefits in the Middle East, the US government supports the Israeli government as its vicious dog, constantly barking and creating conflicts, maintaining a “no war, no peace” situation, so that the US can exert influence. Historically, with the support of the US government, the Israeli government has continued to divide and occupy Palestinian land. It has treated Palestinians as worthless, forcing them to live in crowded and narrow areas such as the Gaza Strip, imposing an economic blockade on them, and separating them with walls. Palestine is therefore known as “the largest open-air prison in the world”!

How can the Palestinians not resist when they live in fear and oppression every day? Without the backing of the US government, how would the Israeli government dare to ignore the opposition from around the world and insist on bombing and invading the Gaza Strip? Even for the most basic United Nations resolution for a ceasefire, the US government disregarded other countries and exercised its veto power to stop it. In addition to the rising number of casualties every day, the two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are facing large-scale displacement as they are cut off from electricity and water: in just ten days after the Israeli government “declared war”, more than 60% Palestinians were forced to move! If they did not flee, they would be killed. Through this genocidal war, the US government is creating another migrant crisis, attracting condemnation from people at home and abroad, including Jews. We call on everyone to oppose this war and ask President Biden to stop the war immediately!

To start and maintain wars abroad, the US government has relied on exploiting and oppressing people internally. With the support of the government, insurance companies and home care agencies are forcing women of color home attendants to work inhumane 24-hour workdays, destroying their health and families day in and day out, and only pay them 13 hours a day. There is no such anti-human work arrangement anywhere else in the world! As the Speaker of the City Council, Adrienne Adams has been refusing to put the “No More 24 Act” to a vote to stop this crime against humanity and allow unscrupulous bosses to continue to harm us. It is unreasonable for the government to help these unscrupulous bosses suck our blood and sweat while also using our money to support the war!

In New York City, we must unite with all groups and individuals who support justice and oppose war and oppression, to stop the US government’s oppression against people internally, such as the racist violence against women of color, and to collectively improve our working and living conditions. Demand City Council Speaker Adams: Put the “No More 24 Act” to a vote and abolish the 24-hour workday, otherwise step down immediately!

Join First Chinese Presbyterian home care workers to say: Pay the Workers Now & No More 24-hour Workdays!

Home care workers at First Chinese Presbyterian have been fighting to end the 24-hour workday and for back pay for the years they worked 24-hours while only being paid 13 hours. These workers work 24-hour shifts caring for elderly, disabled and ill people who need around-the-clock care in their homes. Hundreds of workers have spoken out against the 24-hour workdays, testifying to the damage working days on end without proper rest has had on their health and their family life and how splitting 24-hour shifts into at least two shifts of 12 would help protect them, and enable them to provide proper care to those requiring it.   Despite knowing this, FCP works with insurance companies to continue the 24-hour workdays and refuses to right its wrong by paying back the workers what they are owed. Are these the values and beliefs FCP stands for? Is this how the agency treats its workers and those who receive care?   Join workers to demand FCP pay back the workers now and to call on Governor Cuomo to stop the 24-hour shifts immediately and ensure the agency and insurance companies pay back the workers.     Join home attendants and other workers!Wednesday, December 11, 11amFirst Chinese Presbyterian Home Care Agency, 30 Broad Street, New York, NY

Victory! Home Attendants Win Right to Demand 24 hours pay for 24 hours Worked!

Over a hundred home attendants from various NYC home care agencies and dozens of supporters convened at a workers’ center in Lower Manhattan Wednesday to celebrate several precedent-setting decisions issued in the past few weeks by the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division.  The decisions make the law clear:  it is illegal for employers to pay only 12 hours for 24-hour shifts.

For more than two years, home attendants who worked 24 hours a day for Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) and First Chinese Presbyterian (FCP) have been fighting against their employers to recover stolen wages. Home attendants in these cases were forced by employers to work grueling 24-hour shifts, and like Andryeyeva, Moreno and Tokhtaman, were only paid for 12 hours of work. When CPC and FCP home attendants went to their union, 1199 SEIU, to complain, the union not only ignored them, but went as far as to help the employers by signing a new collective bargaining agreement that prevents the home attendants from having their day in court. But the home attendants never gave up––instead they reached out to workers from other cases to continue fighting. They feel vindicated by the recent decisions.

The decisions were issued in the cases of Adriana Moreno v Future Care Health Services, Inc., Lilya Andryeyeva v New York Health Care, Inc. and Nina Tokhtaman v Human Care, LLC. The plaintiffs in all three cases were 24-hour home attendants who had not been paid for the overnight hours. The courts upheld the home attendants’ right to be paid for each of the 24 hours, “regardless of whether they were afforded opportunities for sleep and meals.”

Lai Yee Chan, a current CPC home attendant who attended the celebration today, said, “This is really good news for us! It means we will be able to get back the wages stolen from us by our agency. And it sends a warning to the companies that try to mess with workers’ hard-earned money. So it is good news not only for home attendants but also other workers across trades. We have been working 24-hour shifts for years, and many of us got injured due to long hours of work and became patients ourselves. This affects our quality of service, and therefore hurts both workers and the patients we are taking care of. We are demanding an end to the inhumane 24-hour shifts, and instead demanding a change to 12-hour shifts.”

A former FCP worker, Alvaro Ramirez, home attendant and member of the AIW campaign said, “Today, we are celebrating this victory as an important accomplishment. We will continue to fight and we are calling on all home attendants to unite with us and demand pay for all of the 24 hours worked and to stop mandatory overtime.”

The workers are asking other home attendants, regardless of agencies, whether in the union or not, to come out and join the campaign. They demand the agencies to pay back the stolen wages immediately and stop mandatory overtime.